Britain, Spain Ruling Parties Dealt Setback

LONDON — Ruling parties in Britain and Spain suffered major defeats in elections for the European Parliament Sunday, but Germany's governing Christian Democrats scored an impressive victory.

In several of the 12 nations of the European Union, particularly France, parties that were critical of the EU treaties promoting a united Europe did strikingly well.

The result was expected to increase pressure on Prime Ministers John Major of Britain and Felipe Gonzalez of Spain to yield power, while German Chancellor Helmut Kohl greatly strengthened his chances of re-election in national voting next October.

In two unrelated referendums, Austrians voted by a two-thirds majority to join the European Union next January, and voters in traditionally neutral Switzerland rejected a proposal to let their soldiers serve in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Voters in eight of the 12 European Union states held cast ballots on Sunday for the European Parliament. Four other states voted last Thursday, but those results were withheld until Sunday.

The overall result, after a light turnout in most countries, was to strengthen the relative majority of the Socialist bloc in the 567-member parliament, but not as much as the Socialists had hoped. Final results due on Monday were expected to give the Socialists about 203 seats, up from their present 198.

The parliament membership was increased from 518 to 567, mainly to account for German reunification.

In Britain, Major's Conservatives were projected to hold as many as 20 of their 32 seats, while the opposition Labor Party was expected to increase its number of seats from 45 to more than 60. After heavy defeats in recent local elections and five British parliamentary by-elections, the Conservatives had been projected in some polls to do far worse.

Even so, the result was the worst in history for the Conservatives in a national election. Most observers saw the election as a referendum on Major's leadership, and challenges to him within the Conservative Party could develop either this summer or after the party's annual conference in October.

Prime Minister Gonzalez's Socialists, rocked by corruption scandals in the government, finished second to the center-right Popular Party in Spain. The Socialists also were projected to lose their absolute majority in the Andalusian regional parliament in a parallel election.

In Germany, Chancellor Kohl's Christian Democrats, who recently rebounded in popularity, scored even better than they did in the last European election in 1989. It was a dismaying outcome for the Social Democrats, who hope to oust Kohl in national elections in October.

In France, the center-right government coalition took about 25 percent of the vote. But the most striking result was that two parties critical of the treaties on European union were each expected to win 12 to 13 percent. The parties were headed by Viscount Philippe de Villiers on the Right and center-left millionaire Bernard Tapie.

The Socialist list headed by party leader Michel Rocard won only about 15 percent of the vote, a result that bodes ill for Rocard's hopes of winning the Socialist nomination in next spring's presidential election. The extreme Rightwing National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen won about 10 percent.

In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party was expected to win 27 to 30 percent of the vote, and his neo-fascist allies, the National Alliance, were projected to capture 13 to 14 percent. This was close to the result of national elections in March that brought a right-wing coalition to power.

Elsewhere, the governing parties in Greece, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg all dominated the poll, but the opposition Socialists scored a victory in Portugal. The Christian Democrats came out on top in the Netherlands.

Throughout Europe, 269 million were eligible to vote but the turnout was as low as 36 percent in Britain and overall was unusually light. Many voters appeared to use their ballots to register approval or disapproval of their governments rather than making decisions on Europe-wide issues.

In Austria, the government campaigned for membership in the European Union and won a much larger victory than expected. The extreme Rightwing Freedom Party waged a vigorous campaign against membership.

The Austrian result gives a boost to governments in Norway, Sweden and Finland, which also are campaigning for EU membership in referendums to be held in October and November.

In Switzerland, 57.3 percent of votes opposed a government proposal to let Swiss soldiers serve with UN peacekeepers.